Bike Commute Diaries: A Picnic Getting to the Park

18Jun

When traffic for a big event chokes city streets and roads, a cross-town bike ride can turn bumper-to-bumper traffic into a ride in the park. The 45,000 spectators for the U.S. Open golf tournament didn’t spoil our Father’s Day picnic in Golden Gate Park. Neither did the fog and wind that had us bundled up in sweaters.

About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.

Truclent, yes! The most difficult part for visitors to San Francisco is how it can be sunny and warm on a June day and then the fog rolls in and you feel like it’s November. Or the other way around. It just depends on the winds and atmospheric pressure.

And I definitely think that casting bicycling as a sport that requires special clothing keeps people off the bike. And those who do imagine that as soon as they start pedaling they will immediately break into a sweat and have to take a shower when they get off the bike. They don’t understand that if you ride slowly you won’t sweat any more than walking. Riding slow vs hard is like walking vs running.

I guess the way forward is to just enjoy our cycling wherever we are and let non-cyclists see that we don’t need lycra. My partner Kath has never worn anything cycling specific except a helmet.

We were in San Francisco a year past march for 2 weeks and never saw the fog! It rained once – just as we took the hire bikes back. I think we were lucky……but on the other hand it would have been an experience to see the tops of the Golden gate Bridge rising above the fog

Hoping to hire bikes in Cumberland Md tomorrow & ride a little bit of the Great Alleghany Passage.

Nearly 32,000 Americans die in car crashes annually. 80% of car crashes are PREVENTABLE. If the TOASTER was killing that many people we'd think it was ridiculous. We'd un-plug it and say, let's Fix The Toaster.